


Date Night

by starkly



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Dating, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-19
Updated: 2011-09-19
Packaged: 2017-11-05 23:48:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/412385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkly/pseuds/starkly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony expresses his feelings through pizza and beer. Pepper is not amused.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Date Night

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt "pizza and beer" at [fic_promptly](http://fic-promptly.dreamwidth.org/83692.html) @ dreamwidth. First fic for the fandom.

“You know, when you used the word 'date,' I mistakenly assumed we would be leaving the house.”

Tony snorted, reaching over the beer bottles lined up on the table to flip open the lid of a pizza box. “I got pepperoni and veggie, which one do you want?”

“And perhaps dining at a restaurant — not even a fancy one, one that had more than just burgers would be good,” Pepper continued, arms crossed over her chest and foot tapping impatiently. Tony ignored her, picking up several slices of pepperoni pizza and putting them on a paper plate. He held out the plate with one hand to Pepper, patting the couch cushion beside him with his other hand.

“Here, pepperoni for Pepper,” he explained, and when Pepper didn't move, he shrugged and started eating one of the slices himself.

“Honestly, Tony, I don't know why I even agreed to this. It's late, I have a lot of work to do, not to mention _you_ have a lot of work to do — ”

“Pepper, please. I do this because I care.”

A delicate eyebrow shot up so high that Tony swore it almost disappeared into her hairline. “About me, or pizza and beer?”

“Both, obviously.” Tony leaned over the side of the couch and grabbed the beer he had been drinking before the pizza arrived, taking a swig. It tasted awful with the pizza, really, but the combination of pizza and beer was just so American that Tony felt this weird compulsion to continue doing it. That, and it was quick and cheap and he could continue working while he ate, as long as he was careful not to get pizza grease all over his stuff.

Pepper watched him chew another bite of pizza silently, then sighed. She scooted around the low table covered in pizza boxes, beer bottles, and bags of potato chips, sitting down beside Tony. He noticed that her skirt rode up slightly when she reached forward to put a slice of veggie pizza on a plate, but he didn't comment on it. She would probably tug it back down into place just to spite him.

“That’s the spirit,” Tony cheered, mouth full, and Pepper took a small bite of the pizza, testing the waters.

“This tastes almost entirely of grease and cheese,” she said, the faintest hint of displeasure gracing her face.

“Exactly, best pizza in the whole city,” Tony agreed, knocking back the rest of his beer in one go. He set the empty bottle at the end of the line on the table and took two more bottles from the cardboard box he had carried everything in from the kitchen to the living room. Opening both, he handed one to Pepper, who took it while asking,

“So what’s the rest of the plan? Watching football until you can’t possibly eat any more pizza, and then you falling asleep before we even get very far in bed?”

“Don’t be silly, Pep,” Tony laughed, slinging an arm around Pepper’s shoulders, “there’s no game on this late. I was thinking that…” He hesitated, clearly unused to expressing what he was trying to say. “…we might just talk?”

Pepper stared at him. “Who are you, and what have you done with my boss.”

Tony feigned being hit in the heart, putting a hand over the arc reactor. “Boss? Pepper, I’m hurt, I thought we were on a date right now.”

“Excuse me for being suspicious of a man who would rather grab ass on a date than discuss feelings.”

“If that’s how you see me, I’m glad I found out before we got any further,” Tony said, grinning. “And I never said anything about any ‘feelings,’ I only said ‘talk.’ There is a world of difference there.”

Pepper laughed, the sound light and distinctly musical to Tony’s ears, and he immediately squashed that thought before he became too sappy. “All right, then, I suppose I can handle a discussion.”

Tony’s grin widened, and he looked like a kid who had just been told Christmas was coming early. It was the kind of expression he wore when something he invented actually worked, or when Pepper told him she had handled all of the work he had conveniently forgotten to do. It was an expression that Pepper had come to appreciate, whether it was directed at new flight stabilizers for the Iron Man suit or at her.

“Have I told you you’re the best?” he asked, kissing her on the cheek.

“You might have, but a little repetition wouldn’t hurt,” Pepper suggested, sliding closer so that her leg was pressed up against his.

“You’re the very best. The absolute best.”

He kissed her on the lips this time, Pepper leaning into it so that Tony was pushed back against the couch cushions. When they stopped, Pepper licked her lips, frowning slightly.

“You taste awful,” she informed him.

“Good breath is a casualty of beer and pizza night,” Tony replied solemnly.

Laughing, Pepper set her plate and bottle down on the table so that she could grab Tony’s shirt and pull him into another kiss. Tony’s pizza fell out of his hands at the sudden movement, but he was completely prepared to deal with a few sauce stains on the carpet in exchange for this.


End file.
